Instant Immersion Express Spanish Reviewer's Comments

*Instant Immersion Express is still available but we decided not to update the review on this product because TOPICS Entertainment produces a more complete Spanish learning package, Instant Immersion Spanish Deluxe 3.0 . Below is the previous review of Instant Immersion Express.*

 

Instant Immersion, produced by TOPICS Entertainment, is a set of programs designed to help you attain Spanish fluency. The package includes five CD-ROMS: Talk Now, World Talk, Talk to Me, an interactive picture dictionary and a mystery game.

Features:  

The five CDs all have completely different uses. The Talk Now CD is designed for beginners, uses a series of games to introduce you to essential Spanish vocabulary and allows you to record your own voice in order to listen to your Spanish pronunciation.

The World Talk CD builds on the fundamentals of the Talk Now program by including more activities and adding diction. The second CD also included a voice recording suite, but we found this difficult to use. This recording software didn't even include a comparison to correct Spanish pronunciation.

Talk to Me combines the fundamentals of Talk Now and World Talk in lessons on pronunciation and dialogue.

The interactive picture dictionary allows you to easily explore over 2,000 words in Spanish. In this dictionary, there are picture association techniques including images, illustrations, video clips and other memory-enhancing tools that make retaining vocabulary simple.

The last product offered in the package is the Who Is Oscar Lake? program. The Oscar Lake program plunges you directly into a foreign city where you must solve a puzzling mystery in a new language. The Oscar Lake program allows you to explore the Spanish language through sight, sound and action-an entertaining and powerful way to teach.

Fundamentals:  

There are five different programs you must learn to navigate and install. The navigation was relatively easy for each program. You must transition from one program to the next and learn to use each program and feature separately. This is awkward until you become familiar with all of the programs' capabilities.

Ease of Use:  

Installation was a little confusing because during the process we were asked which language we wanted the product installed. The question refers to the language you want to use to navigate the software (English) not the language you want to learn (Spanish). You must also install multiple programs, but the process was fairly simple.

Teaching Tools:  

The help and documentation were adequate. From the website you can study FAQs and access e-mail support to answer your questions.

Word Tools:  

This software presents valuable information in the form of games to make learning enjoyable. Instant Immersion covers the fundamentals of vocabulary well, but lacks grammar tools and conversational skills. In order to become fluent in Spanish you must learn the proper rules of grammar and verb conjugation. Instant Immersion does not adequately cover these areas and lacks the ability to practice Spanish conversation.

Help/Support:  

Instant Immersion offers a wide variety of vocabulary games, and this can help break the monotony of learning new words and phrases in Spanish. This language package is weak, however, when it comes to teaching the rules of grammar and verb conjugation.

Summary:  

Instant Immersion is a combination of older versions of popular Spanish language software combined in one package. Although many vital areas of Spanish learning are covered, the programs are outdated. Consider purchasing current software for your language-learning needs.